EBEDI REVIEW 2016

Ebedi Review is a beautifully packaged publication that focuses on  literature, writers, books - and of course the pertinent Residency programme, based in Iseyin, Nigeria.   

The publication is edited by Obinna Udenwe (the highly skilled author of Satans and

Shaitans) and Paul T Liam, assiduous poet and essayist. The founder and patron of the Residency and journal is Wale Okediran.

Okediran, who is also one of Africa's top writers and authors,looms large, even in this publication. Author of well over a dozen  fine works, even in his shorter pieces and contributions (many of them published here) he continues to show what a dexterous writer he is.

This is how Okediran rounds off his trip to Uganda, for example: "... I savoured the warm fellowship of my fellow writers under the wonderful, starry Kampala night, a delicious drum stick in my mouth, all the sweat and hard work of running the Ebedi

Residency...dissolved and wafted away in the embers of that lovely night." (Page 66).      

The variety of the contributions here is staggering - Nigeria apparently has countless poets, writers, essayists, academics et al! Yet the publication, and editors have done

their best to publish contributions from all over Africa, though the majority of work is from Nigeria and west Africa. We have a lovely piece written by Barbara Oketta, from east Africa (page 25); and from southern Africa we have contributions from Raphael Mokoena (Lesotho)and Tiisetso M. Thiba (South Africa).   

Yet Paul Liam, the Poetry Editor of Ebedi Review, writes: "Although I received so many

beautiful poems, I regret that not all could be included in this publication because of the limited space allocated to poetry..." (Page51)

There are scores of poems, general essays, reviews, reflections,vignettes et al, published in the Review. It is touching that at least two deceased, iconic writers are celebrated here: Flora Nwapa, and Elechi Amadi. 

Many of the general essays or presentations bristle with authority and authenticity. Nel Ibuola eg reviews Tendai Huchu's work impressively; as does Mokoena with Bolaji's work, Cognoscenti.       

Abubakar Othman, from an intellectual perspective, makes cogent points as he writes on Creative Writing, Globalization, and Residencies. A sample: "But not all writers are

academics or scholars, many of them are professionals in other fields who are gifted with creative talent. They may not need tutoring or mentoring, but certainly they would need socialization and to acclimatize in the creative writing environment. 

"The idea of a Residency is to offer such services to writers from different educational and professional backgrounds... Writers need a forum for informal self-assessment," (page 69).    

Ebedi Review, which has packaged and distilled the collective talents and experiences of sundry writers and artists here, more than whets the appetite.

by Paul Lothane